Ludden: Pryzbilla receptive to Spurs

[Solid D]

I think the Pistons' offer will exceed any MLE offer the Spurs might present to Duffy.

It would seem Javtokas has similar skills and would come cheaper. Przybilla is 2 inches taller but Javtokas' hops probably make up for the difference and then some.

[timvp]

I would think the Pistons' offer will exceed any MLE offer the Spurs might present to Duffy.

It's unclear whether the Pistons have more than the MLE. From the numbers, I don't think they do.

[Solid D]

Oh really.

[Solid D]

Hmmm, the Pistons just gave 4.5 Mil over 2 years to Lindsay Hunter. They no longer have Evans' salary and Wallace's salary. What is their salary position without them?

[JamStone]

From everything I've read and heard, the Pistons DO NOT have more than the MLE to offer Przybilla.

[Solid D]

Hoopshype shows them at $46M without Hunter. Hunter will take another $2.25M or thereabouts.

[JamStone]

Before the Lindsey Hunter signing, the Pistons were right at about $46 million. Salary cap should be around $51-52 million.

The Pistons did not have more than the MLE to acquire free agents, even before re-signing Lindsey Hunter.

[SA210]

I'm guessing the Spurs didn't think about making any calls to Pryz.

"Ah, let's see what happens tomorrow before we call him"

"oops, too late"

[SA Gunslinger]

There was nothing aggressive or dictating about us trying to go small and match up with Dallas, give me a break Gunslinger.

I am not a fan of small ball. But I thought it worked better as the series went on. I saw the guys in game three and four have some runs that were championship calibur. Unfortunately we had some bad luck in both games.

I do see your point of view. TD got into foul trouble during game two against the Mavs because Pop had Horry guarding Josh Howard. Horry was so concerned with Howard, he wouldn't help out when Harris or Stackhouse penetrated to the basket. With Horry and TD in the game, they aren't playing small. But because Pop matched up Bruce on Dirk, the cross matchup of Horry on Howard caused the Spurs to scramble on D. After TD got into foul trouble, Pop took Horry out and went small.

I think after that he pretty much went small the rest of the series. And he never really gave TD on Dirk a try.

To me, the news that the Spurs are after Pryz is a good sign, it means our coaches realized that small ball is not the future they thought it was in May.

And that's a good thing. Joel gives you a shot blocker and rebounder inside who can put up some great numbers for you.

I am all for grabbing the best big man on the market. He isn't Swen Nater but he isn't a stiff either. He's tough and unlike Rasho, has some fire in the hole. Ideally, the Spurs should be prepared for any matchup and that includes a decent big next to TD.

As to the Dirk equation, 75-80 points? Give me a break. He had the game of his life in the WCF and got to 50. The key to taking down Dallas isn't stopping Dirk, it's stopping Terry and Harris from their layup fest that they had going on all series with us.

You do that with quickness on the perimeter (where a JR Smith signing would come handy) and better interior D. Pryz gives you the latter. Let Dirk get his, lock down the rest of the Mavs, and you win.

Your probably right about this. Pop really didn't try shutting down the lane and force Dirk to be sole offensive weapon for Dallas. I guess we will never know since Pop just went small pretty much the entire series. But like I said, I thought small ball was working as the series progressed. Offensively, the guys were unstoppable and if TP could have hit his jumper in a few key moments, the Spurs win the series.

It worked two years ago against Phoenix (Amare with 40 PPG), and it will work against Dallas.

Another good point but Amare and Dirk have opposite games. I get it since the Spurs beat the Suns by allowing Amare to get his, the same philosophy should work against Dirk and the Mavs. But Dallas had more weapons to deal with because really, we didn't have to worry about Joe Johnson until game three in '05. And Dallas had a deeper bench.

The way I saw it, Pop didn't want TD to guard Dirk because he didn't want TD to be strapped with fouls. He didn't feel comfortable with Horry guarding Dirk so he used Horry on Howard which was a disaster. That pretty much limited your big lineup. And the rest is history. Maybe Pop does go big next season. That would probably mean TD would have to guard Dirk. I guess we will see what happens.

[SPARKY]

Amare still plays close enough to the rim to make a traditional lineup feasible against the Suns.